Murmurs: All the News That’s Fit to Read in a Loo.

City Commissioner Steve Novick
is ready to flush Portland’s toilet-sales department. The newest member
of the City Council says the efforts to market the patent sidewalk
commode known as the Portland Loo to other cities is failing. Novick says he is responding to our cover story last week(“Money Bucket,”WW, May 15, 2013) that showed the city has sold only three of the $90,000 loos
in three years—and would need to quadruple that rate to cover the
maintenance costs of six loos the city operates around town. Novick says
he’s asking Mayor Charlie Hales to end the loo sales program and
instead restore the Bureau of Environmental Services’ Clean Rivers Education Program,
providing wetlands field trips to students. “It doesn’t seem like loo
sales are going to take off,” Novick says. “And the rivers education
program is very popular.” Hales’ office says it wants to let the loo
sales program die a quiet death.